Patricia Muir could face a £150k legal costs bill over sale of a "defective"
horse bought for less than £3k

A champion showjumper could be facing a £150,000 legal costs bill over the sale of a "defective" horse which was bought for less than £3,000.

Sir Stanley Burnton, the appeal court judge who presided over the case, lamented the "disproportionate costs", which have spiralled since Patricia "Paddy" Muir, a three-day eventer, was sued by John Palmer, a pupil of hers.

Mr Palmer, a "novice rider" from Corbridge, County Durham, claims Ms Muir sold him a horse in 2007 that was "ready for the knacker's yard” and had to be put down just months afterwards.

The financial advisor launched court action against Ms Muir, an "illustrious horsewoman" and a previous winner of the Blenheim Palace horse trials, claiming she sold him an animal which was "unfit for purpose."

However, Ms Muir, who runs a riding stable at Stokesley, North Yorkshire, insisted she had never owned the horse - a 14-year-old hunter named Toby - and that she merely acted as an "agent" for Mr Palmer in the purchase, at his request.

She denied any responsibility for Toby's state of health or that he "lacked merchantable quality at the time of sale or was unfit for purpose”.

Mr Palmer lost the argument after two court hearings, but judges in London have now upheld his appeal, opening a new chapter in the costly legal saga.

Sir Stanley decried the eye-watering legal costs of the case - estimated at £150,000 - when measured against Toby's sale price of just £2,750.

"This is in many ways a sad case. The claim is for less than £9,000", he said.

"It was heard for several days by a judge who found in favour of the defendant (Ms Muir). There was then an appeal to the county court judge who dismissed the appeal.

"We are now hearing a second appeal in this case - in which the costs by now must inevitably be many times the value of the claim."

Mark Anderson QC, for Mr Palmer, said he had asked Ms Muir to "keep an eye out" for a suitable horse for him to use as a novice in eventing and initially agreed to pay £5,000 for Toby in the belief that he was an 11-year-old.

He added that Mr Palmer, 55, later dropped the price to £2,750 after seeing the horse's passport and learning he was 14.

After buying and riding the horse, Mr Palmer found that it had an "abnormal hopping gait" which caused him to occasionally lose balance whilst riding.

Mr Anderson said: "The horse went lame shortly after Mr Palmer bought it and was put out to grass thereafter."

After a vet declared Toby unsuitable to ride, he was destroyed in June 2008 for medical reasons.

Mr Anderson told the court that a post-mortem examination of the animal revealed that one of its front feet was bigger than the other.

The barrister told the judges: "Mr Palmer bought a horse which turned out to be of unsatisfactory quality and unfit for its purpose.

"He says he bought it from Ms Muir in the course of her business as a horse trainer and occasional dealer and that the sale was therefore subject to the statutory implied terms as to quality and fitness".

Patrick Limb QC, for Ms Muir, told the court that the showjumper did not own the horse and that Mr Palmer should have known that.

"Though a novice rider, Mr Palmer was not an ingenue with money," the barrister said.

"Though an illustrious horsewoman, with considerable equine knowledge, Ms Muir was merely seeking to help him find a horse in response to requests that she source one for him," he added.

Sir Stanley, sitting with Sir Terence Etherton and Lord Justice Kitchin, said: "The case arose out of the purchase of a horse called Toby, which, following its purchase in October 2007, became, if it was not already, lame, and eventually had to be put down.

"Mr Palmer claims that Ms Muir sold him the horse and, in consequence, she was in breach of the contract of sale.

"Her case is that she was not the seller of the horse but that she managed the purchase on behalf of Mr Palmer and has no personal liability in the sale."

The judge said the "vital points" in deciding the case were "the nature of the agreement and whether the horse was in fact defective."

Allowing Mr Palmer's appeal and sending the case back to be re-heard, Sir Stanley concluded: "There was no sensible finding of fact as to the condition of Toby at the point of sale.

"I see no alternative but for the case to be remitted to the County Court for re-hearing by a different judge."

Outside court, Mr Palmer said: "I would never have bought it if I had known what it was - it was ready for the knacker's yard".